Peruvian Pres. Alan García completed the first year of his second term in office in 2007, but his popularity continued to slide during the year (to about 35%) as citizens continued to voice concerns about the difficulty of finding good jobs, about personal security, and about persistent scandals involving questionable government purchasing practices. García’s interior minister resigned after he was charged with corruption for having overpaid for police cars and other official vehicles.

Former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who fled the country in 2001, was formally extradited to Lima in September 2007 to stand trial on several corruption and human rights abuse charges. Fujimori had been under house arrest in Santiago for some 22 months while the case made its way through the Chilean legal system, but because he maintained a sizable core of supporters in Peru and his party often sided with President García’s American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA) in the Congress, the hearings represented a highly sensitive political issue. In December Fujimori was convicted of having authorized an illegal search in 2000 and was sentenced by Peru’s Supreme Court to six years in prison. A separate trial on charges of murder and human rights abuse continued at year’s end. Meanwhile, a long series of trials continued for Vladimiro Montesinos, Fujimori’s former spy chief. Montesinos already had been found guilty on a number of charges involving his abuse of power while serving (1990–2000) in government.

Probably the most notable event in Peru during the year was the magnitude 8.0 earthquake that on August 15 struck the southern Peruvian coast. The epicentre was near the city of Ica, and the surrounding towns of Pisco, Paracas, Cañete, and Chincha were hard hit. Pisco suffered widespread damage, but Lima, some 240 km (150 mi) north of Ica, emerged basically unscathed. The final death toll was about 600, with another 300 missing, and the damage to infrastructure and buildings was extensive.

Residents of the Peruvian city of Pisco carry a coffin through the streets on August 18, three days …

AP

Macroeconomic indicators were strong and positive throughout the year; economic growth continued to surpass 7% and helped to generate substantial government revenues, significant trade surpluses, and large foreign reserves. Inflation stayed low (at about 2.5%). Nonetheless, extreme disparities remained between Peru’s wealthy and its poor.

One of Peru’s economic mainstays—mining—showed signs of trouble. Numerous mining communities protested against low wages and such environmental ills as water pollution and mercury spills. Leakage from the Camisea natural gas pipeline also caused problems. The city of La Oroya, a mining town with a refinery in the central Andean highlands, was reportedly one of the 10 worst polluted places in the world; more than 90% of children in the area had high levels of lead in their blood.

In foreign affairs Pres. Alan García demonstrated support for a free-trade agreement with the U.S. The Peru Trade Promotion Agreement was approved in November by the U.S. House of Representatives and in December by the U.S. Senate. The ratification of this bill represented a major coup for Peru and García.

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